Comparison of the rate of healthcare encounters for influenza from source-specific PM before and after tier 3 vehicle standards in New York state.

Background: Influenza healthcare encounters in adults associated with specific sources of PM is an area of active research.

Objective: Following 2017 legislation requiring reductions in emissions from light-duty vehicles, we hypothesized a reduced rate of influenza healthcare encounters would be associated with concentrations of PM from traffic sources in the early implementation period of this regulation (2017-2019).

Methods: We used the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) to study adult patients hospitalized (N = 5328) or treated in the emergency department (N = 18,247) for influenza in New York State.

The evolution of democratic peace in animal societies.

A major goal in evolutionary biology is to elucidate common principles that drive human and other animal societies to adopt either a warlike or peaceful nature. One proposed explanation for the variation in aggression between human societies is the democratic peace hypothesis. According to this theory, autocracies are more warlike than democracies because autocratic leaders can pursue fights for private gain.

PM and its components and respiratory disease healthcare encounters - Unanticipated increased exposure-response relationships in recent years after environmental policies.

Prior studies reported excess rates (ERs) of cardiorespiratory events associated with short-term increases in PM concentrations, despite implementation of pollution-control policies. In 2017, Federal Tier 3 light-duty vehicle regulations began, and to-date there have been no assessments of population health effects of the policy. Using the NYS Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) database, we obtained hospitalizations and ED visits with a principal diagnosis of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for residents living within 15 miles of six urban PM monitoring sites in NYS (2014-2019).

Tuberculosis screening for patients on biologic Medications: A Single-Center experience and Society guideline Review, Monroe County, New York, 2018-2021.

Rationale: Biologic medications for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases may increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB) reactivation, but data on screening for TB in low TB prevalence areas are limited.

Objective: To assess the real-world practice patterns of TB screening among prescribers of biologic medications.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study at a single, university-based healthcare facility in a low TB prevalence area.

Fruit flavors in electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) are associated with nocturnal dry cough: A population longitudinal analysis.

Evidence from in vitro and animal models has identified the pulmonary toxicity of flavors in electronic cigarettes (ECIGs); however, less is known from epidemiological studies about the effects of flavors in the respiratory health. This study examined the longitudinal association between exposure to ECIGs flavors and nocturnal dry cough among ECIGs users. A secondary analysis of data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (2014-2019) was conducted.

The evolution of menopause in toothed whales.

Understanding how and why menopause has evolved is a long-standing challenge across disciplines. Females can typically maximize their reproductive success by reproducing for the whole of their adult life. In humans, however, women cease reproduction several decades before the end of their natural lifespan.

Examining the impact of air pollution, climate change, and social determinants of health on asthma and environmental justice.

Purpose Of Review: In this review, we discuss the current literature examining the impact air pollution and climate change has on asthma onset, control, and exacerbation. This review also addresses the risk of exposure to specific disproportionately affected communities, highlighting health disparities in exposure and asthma outcomes.

Recent Findings: Recent studies have shifted from highlighting the associations between asthma exacerbations and indoor and outdoor air pollution.

Bunching behavior in housed dairy cows at higher ambient temperatures.

Bunching behavior in cattle may occur for several reasons including enabling social interactions, a response to stress or danger, or due to shared interest in resources such as feeding or watering areas. There is evidence in pasture grazed cattle that bunching may occur more frequently at higher ambient temperatures, possibly due to sharing of fly-load or to seek shade from the direct sun under heat stress conditions. Here we demonstrate how bunching behavior is associated with higher ambient temperatures in a barn-housed UK dairy herd.

Workplace Productivity Loss and Indirect Costs Associated With Preterm Birth in the United States.

Objective: To estimate workplace productivity loss and indirect costs in the year after birth among individuals who deliver preterm in the United States.

Methods: This retrospective, observational cohort study estimated workplace productivity loss and indirect costs for individuals aged 18-55 years with an inpatient delivery between January 1, 2016, and September 30, 2021, using data from the Merative MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database and the Health and Productivity Management database. Workdays lost and costs attributable to medical-related absenteeism, workplace absenteeism (defined as sick leave, leave, recreational leave, Family Medical Leave Act); disability (defined as short-term and long-term disability), and aggregate workplace productivity loss, a combined outcome measure, were compared between propensity-score-matched birth cohorts: preterm birth (before 37 weeks of gestation) and full-term birth (at or after 37 weeks of gestation).

Are Black and Latino adolescents being asked if they use electronic cigarettes and advised not to use them? Results from a community-based survey.

Objective: This study aimed to explore whether African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino adolescents are being asked about electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use (vaping) and advised not to use them.

Methods: In 2021, adolescents ( = 362) with no vaping history, self-identified as African American/Black and/or Hispanic/Latino, and able to read and speak English and/or Spanish were recruited through partner schools and community-based organizations. Participants completed a survey reporting sociodemographic characteristics (e.

Postreproductive female killer whales reduce socially inflicted injuries in their male offspring.

Understanding the evolution of menopause presents a long-standing scientific challenge-why should females cease ovulation prior to the end of their natural lifespan? In human societies, intergenerational resource transfers, for example, food sharing and caregiving, are thought to have played a key role in the evolution of menopause, providing a pathway by which postreproductive females can boost the fitness of their kin. To date however, other late-life contributions that postreproductive females may provide their kin have not been well studied. Here, we test the hypothesis that postreproductive female resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) provide social support to their offspring by reducing the socially inflicted injuries they experience.

Effectively utilizing publicly available databases for cancer target evaluation.

The majority of compounds designed against cancer drug targets do not progress to become approved drugs, mainly due to lack of efficacy and/or unmanageable toxicity. Robust target evaluation is therefore required before progressing through the drug discovery process to reduce the high attrition rate. There are a wealth of publicly available databases that can be mined to generate data as part of a target evaluation.

Towards a Race-Neutral System of Pulmonary Function Test Results Interpretation.

It has been observed widely that, on average, Black individuals in the United States have lower FVC than White individuals, which is thought to reflect a combination of genetic, environmental, and socioeconomic factors that are difficult to disentangle. Debate therefore persists even after the American Thoracic Society's 2023 guidelines recommending race-neutral pulmonary function test (PFT) result interpretation strategies. Advocates of race-based PFT results interpretation argue that it allows for more precise measurement and will minimize disease misclassification.

Real-life Assessment of BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel in Adults Hospitalized With Respiratory Illness.

Background: Inability to identify the microbial etiology of lower respiratory tract infection leads to unnecessary antibiotic use. We evaluated the utility of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel (BioFire PN) to inform microbiologic diagnosis.

Methods: Hospitalized adults with respiratory illness were recruited; sputa and clinical/laboratory data were collected.

Killer whales.

Michael Weiss and Darren Croft introduce Orcas (Orcinus orca) also known as killer whales.

Temporal dynamics of mother-offspring relationships in Bigg's killer whales: opportunities for kin-directed help by post-reproductive females.

Age-related changes in the patterns of local relatedness (kinship dynamics) can be a significant selective force shaping the evolution of life history and social behaviour. In humans and some species of toothed whales, average female relatedness increases with age, which can select for a prolonged post-reproductive lifespan in older females due to both costs of reproductive conflict and benefits of late-life helping of kin. Killer whales () provide a valuable system for exploring social dynamics related to such costs and benefits in a mammal with an extended post-reproductive female lifespan.

The impact of COVID-19 restrictions on acute hospital presentations due to alcohol-related harm in Waitematā Auckland, New Zealand.

Aims: New Zealand's public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic has largely been considered successful, although there have been concerns surrounding the potential harms of the lockdown restrictions enforced, including alteration of alcohol consumption. New Zealand utilised a four-tiered alert level system of lockdowns and restrictions, with Level 4 denoting strict lockdown. This study aimed to compare alcohol-related hospital presentations during these periods with corresponding calendar-matched dates from the preceding year.

Costly lifetime maternal investment in killer whales.

Parents often sacrifice their own future reproductive success to boost the survival of their offspring, a phenomenon referred to as parental investment. In several social mammals, mothers continue to improve the survival of their offspring well into adulthood; however, whether this extended care comes at a reproductive costs to mothers, and therefore represents maternal investment, is not well understood. We tested whether lifetime maternal care is a form of parental investment in fish-eating "resident" killer whales.

The E-cigarette or Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury Epidemic: Pathogenesis, Management, and Future Directions: An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report.

E-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) is a severe pulmonary illness associated with the use of e-cigarettes or vaping products that was officially identified and named in 2019. This American Thoracic Society workshop was convened in 2021 to identify and prioritize research and regulatory needs to adequately respond to the EVALI outbreak and to prevent similar instances of disease associated with e-cigarette or vaping product use. An interdisciplinary group of 26 experts in adult and pediatric clinical care, public health, regulatory oversight, and toxicology were convened for the workshop.

Association between weight loss and mortality in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Rationale: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive interstitial lung disease that has no cure. Many current research efforts center on diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for IPF while other risk factors affecting disease pathogenesis receive less attention. Emerging data support the clinical importance of weight loss in patients with IPF.